At yesterday's trading, oil prices experienced a record drop in a month on the back of a rise in the dollar, which jumped in price by the maximum value in 15 months – 1.1890 (paired with the euro). At the same time, Brent oil quotes fell to $72.10 per barrel, while the price of WTI crude oil fell to $69.87. The rally in the US currency, which plunged commodity markets (from hydrocarbons to metals), was triggered by a surprise from the Fed, which began preparations to tighten its monetary policy. The regulator said that it can start raising the key rate as early as 2023, and will also begin to discuss curtailing the purchase of assets in the near future. As a result, a long-overdue «liquidation» of speculative positions began on the oil market: hedge funds, which had accumulated rates on the growth of raw materials that were record-breaking for a decade, began to sell and take profits. However, the fundamental factors affecting the oil market remain positive. Demand from refineries in the United States has returned to levels of January 2020, and OPEC + continues to restrict supplies, artificially keeping the market in a deficit state. But the metals market did not recover by Friday: gold fell by 4.5%, silver by 6.3%, platinum by 7%, palladium by 11%. Copper, aluminum and zinc become cheaper by more than 4%.
